Having A Superior Arizona Lunch After Driving To Globe On The Old West Highway

A Solo Saguaro With A Mountain Background

I never tire of desert scenery. I am particularly fond of Saguaro cactus. I have been fond of Saguaro cactus as long as I remember. I saw many Saguaro today on the drive to Globe, in addition to the solo one in the picture.

My sister was given the driving duty today, which afforded me more lookability.

Unfortunately, for the most part, the glare of the sun impacted the on the move picture taking. I probably should have rolled down the window. In my defense, I am exhausted and not at all thinking clearly.

It is beginning to become borderline embarrassing the number of times I have been told that some question I am asking has already been asked and answered. This happened multiple times last night with my nephews and again multiple times today. And, again, in my defense, I plead exhaustion. That and I am not getting my usual high dose of endorphin inducing aerobic stimulation.

My Sister's White Knuckles On The Steering Wheel

I am guessing that my current reduction in aerobic stimulation is causing some level of oxygen deprivation to my brain cells, hence the memory problem and not thinking of something so rudimentary as rolling down a window.

Pictures taken with the camera aimed out the windshield appear not to have suffered too greatly from the sun glare problem.

Below is an example of a picture taken through the filter of window glare. Even with the glare you get a good idea of how scenic the scenery was today on the way to Globe.

My sister drives way faster than I do, pushing my mom and dad's tire's cornering ability to the limit, over and over again, as we careened around the twist and turns of this particular mountain road, known as The Old West Highway.

Besh-ba-Gowah Pueblo Archaeological Exhibit

I don't know how this happened, but at one point in time my mom and dad's car dealer must have gotten some sort of alert that my sister was testing the outer limits of the vehicle's abilities, because a call was received from the dealer, telling my mom and dad they needed to bring the vehicle in to have a failed sensor replaced. It was spooky.

Eventually we passed Superior, and then Miami, which finally led to Globe. In Globe we eventually made it to the Besh-ba-Gowah Pueblo Archaeological Exhibit. This is a reconstructed 14th century Salado Indian ruin.

On the way to Globe we saw several billboards inviting us to the Pickle Barrel Trading Post, promising that we would not believe what's inside.

My Dad & Sister Outside The Pickle Barrel Trading Post

So, of course we had to stop to see what we would not believe. But first we had to wait until the Pickle Barrel opened at 10am.

When the Pickle Barrel Trading Post opened we ceased checking out the stuff outside the Trading Post and joined the throngs inside.

I saw a lot of stuff inside the Pickle Barrel Trading Post, but I saw no Pickle Barrel. And, despite the billboard's indicating otherwise, I was able to believe what was inside the Pickle Barrel.

Pickle Barrel Tradingpost Website

When we were kids, my brother and I were rockhounds. We would have had ourselves a real fine time hounding the cool rocks for sale at the Pickle Barrel.

Globe reminded me of other mining towns I have visited, like Lead, South Dakota, Rosyln, Washington and Bisbee, Arizona. In the case of Lead and Bisbee, big open mines, clearly visible. In the case of all three, ramshackle houses clinging to steep hills, with colorful downtowns.

World's Smallest Museum In Superior

Eventually we left Globe and headed back towards the Valley of the Sun, via the Old West Highway.

Beginning in Globe, lunch began to be discussed. We drove by Chalo's Casa Reynoso restaurant, in Globe, but it had not yet opened.

Eventually we made it to Superior. We toured the downtown of Superior. It looked familiar, as did the outlying parts of Superior. I would later learn why Superior looked familiar.

When we left downtown Superior, and got back on the Old West Highway, we saw a restaurant that looked interesting. We pulled into the parking lot behind a motorbike gang, to learn the restaurant is called the Buckboard City Cafe and is the home of the World's Smallest Museum.

My Sister & Dad (Blocking View Of Mom) In
The Buckboard City Cafe

I think it was on the Buckboard City Cafe menu we learned that the Clint Eastwood movie, The Gauntlet, was filmed, I assume, in part, in Superior.

Later I learned other movies have used Superior's scenery for movie scenery, like Oliver Stone's U Turn, How The West Was Won, Skinwalker, The Prophecy, The Salena Incident, Blind Justice and others.

I rather enjoyed the Buckboard City Cafe. The waitress promptly arrived with menus. It took us awhile, well, my mom, to decide what to order.

I had the Cheezburg. It came with fries or soup of the day, which was split pea and ham. I opted for fries.

After what seemed like a really long time the waitress arrived with the vittles. This was one of those times when a long wait was not vexing. Even though we were starving.

On the table there was a bottle of really hot hot sauce. I wish I could remember the name, but, like I've already indicated, I am having memory issues. Suffice to say the name of the hot sauce was clever and I put it on my fries.

I think the hot sauce acted as a bit of a substitute for aerobic stimulation, because I felt a bit more alert for a short duration.

Antique 1984 Compaq Computer

When we left the Buckboard City Cafe we toured the World's Smallest Museum. Let's just say the curator chose some interesting items. Like a 1984 Compaq computer. I am currently typing on a laptop version of a Compaq computer, built in this century.

After we left the World's Smallest Museum the ride back to the Phoenix metro zone seemed to go real fast. Eventually I found myself, once again, in a 99 Cent Store. I was not tasked with finding turkey legs.

Tomorrow my sister and I are hiking to the top of a mountain, the name of which I can not currently remember.